The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments
General
The Thousand and One Nights, Vol. I.: Commonly Called the Arabian Nights' Entertainments
Fairy tales; Tales -- Arab countries
"It is believed," says El-Ḳazweenee, "that the Angels are of a simple
substance, endowed with life, and speech, and reason; and that the
difference between them and the Jinn and Sheyṭáns is a difference of
species. Know," he adds, "that the Angels are sanctified from carnal
desire and the disturbance of anger: they disobey not God in what He
hath commanded them, but do what they are commanded. Their food is the
celebrating of his glory; their drink, the proclaiming of his holiness;
their conversation, the commemoration of God, whose name be exalted;
their pleasure, his worship: they are created in different forms, and
with different powers." Some are described as having the forms of
brutes. Four of them are Archangels; Jebraeel or Jibreel (or Gabriel),
the angel of revelations; Meekaeel or Meekál (or Michael), the patron of
the Israelites; 'Azraeel, the angel of death; and Isráfeel, the angel of
the trumpet, which he is to sound twice, or as some say thrice, at the
end of the world: one blast will kill all living creatures (himself
included): another, forty years after, (he being raised again for this
purpose, with Jebraeel and Meekaeel), will raise the dead. These
Archangels are also called Apostolic Angels. They are inferior in
dignity to human prophets and apostles, though superior to the rest of
the human race: the angelic nature is held to be inferior to the human
nature, because all the Angels were commanded to prostrate themselves
before Adam. Every believer is attended by two guardian and recording
angels; one of whom writes his good actions; the other, his evil
actions: or, according to some, the number of these angels is five, or
sixty, or a hundred and sixty. There are also two Angels called Munkar
(vulg. Nákir) and Nekeer, who examine all the dead, and torture the
wicked, in their graves.
The species of Jinn is said to have been created some thousands of years
before Adam. According to a tradition from the Prophet, this species
consists of five orders or classes; namely, Jánn (who are the least
powerful of all), Jinn, Sheyṭáns (or Devils), 'Efreets, and Márids. The
last, it is added, are the most powerful; and the Jánn are transformed
Jinn; like as certain apes and swine were transformed men.[52]--It must,
however, be remarked here, that the terms Jinn and Jánn are generally
used indiscriminately, as names of the whole species (including the
other orders above mentioned), whether good or bad; and that the former
term is the more common. Also, that "Sheyṭán" is commonly used to
signify any evil Jinnee. An 'Efreet is a powerful evil Jinnee:[53] a
Márid, an evil Jinnee of the most powerful class. The Jinn (but
generally speaking, evil ones) are called by the Persians "Deevs," the
most powerful evil Jinn, "Narahs" (which signifies "males," though they
are said to be males and females); the good Jinn, "Perees;" though this
term is commonly applied to females.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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